Advice on avoiding some of the pitfalls that can be involved in wine investment. News of wine investment scams. Say no to cold callers. Don't buy investment wines from companies you don't know or haven't checked out.
See page (right hand column) of companies from whom I wouldn't buy wine. Advice is always free, although there is a donate button on right-hand-side of the blog.

wine-searcher

Wine Name:

Vintage:

Friday, 30 March 2012

'NOTICE
IS HEREBY GIVEN, pursuant to Section 98 of the Insolvency Act 1986,
that a meeting of the creditors of the above named company will be held
at Marriott Hotel, 1 Broadway, Bexleyheath DA6 7JZ, on 5 April 2012 at
11:30am for the purposes of,

The nomination of a Liquidator

The appointment of a Liquidation Committee

All
creditors of Beaumont Vintners Limited are welcome to attend the
meeting of creditors. Should a creditor not be able to attend the
meeting or not wish to attend the meeting in person, a proxy form can be
used in order to cast a vote at the meeting. Please contact Carol
Hooper at Abbott Fielding in order to obtain further information in
respect of the meeting and to obtain a proxy form. All valid proxy forms
must be received by Abbott Fielding no later than noon on 4 April 2012.'

Wednesday, 7 March 2012

In the 'About us' section Winnington Fine Wines Ltd modestly claim to be 'a leading wine broker' and are able to 'show a long term history of impressive returns'. Indeed 'impressive' as the company was formed on 23rd January 2012, so to become a 'leading wine broker' in less than two months is a startling achievement.

File from Companies House showing formation date of 23rd January 2012

On their website Winnington claim 'Your wine is stored at London City Bond'. This is incorrect as Winnington Fine Wines Ltd currently do not have an account at London City Bond.

Tuesday, 6 March 2012

Global Wine Investments Ltd 'fine wine brokers based in the City of London' were set up on 12th April 2011. They claim 'First Class Expertise'. However, this does not appear to extend to their knowledge of the History of Bordeaux. They claim that the 1855 Classification listed all Bordeaux wines and that the appellation contrôlée system was set up at the same time! (see below).

For a young wine company they have an extensive wine list (11 pages downloadable from the site), although on a brief look the prices look rather high. The 1996 Lafite is priced at £18525 a case, whereas it is listed by a number of merchants on wine-searcher for around £10,000. Albany Vintners has this for £10300 a case. Latour 1982 will cost £27300 from Global Wine Investments Ltd, whereas several merchants list it on wine-searcher for between £16,000 and £17,000 a case. The company isn't listed on wine-searcher.

The Global list also has some rarities such as a single bottle of 1949 Dom Perignon listed for £851.50 a bottle. Albany Vintners also have a single bottle of this but at £655. Staying with 1949 Global list a Rivesaltes at £546 a case, Albany have a Château Saint-Michel, Rivesaltes at £420 a case.

Global Wine Investment Ltd's list does appears to have more than a passing resemblance to that of Albany Vintners, except that Global's prices are substantially higher. All very curious especially as it came as a complete surprise to Albany Vintners Ltd that Global were using their wine list:

“Nope, never heard of these guys − they’re nothing to do us. Certainly looks like Albany’s list to me, with margin added as you suggest, but to be clear they’re not running the list with permission of Albany Vintners.”

Clearly if you find something interesting on Global's list buy instead from Albany....

and I think I'll definitely pass on Global Wine Investments Ltd for the moment!

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